Despair A Kouga OneShot
by Fab3rry
Summary: Kouga's affection over Kagome is coming to be a cliche, so for those who like Kouga, and by like, I mean 'like like' Kouga, here's a oneshot for you


∂ℯ**s****ρ****I****ґ Kouga One-Shot**  
Note: This one-shot is in reader-insert form.

Have you ever been able to control your feelings? By feelings, on someone who you think was who you've been missing all that time? For _, those feelings come and go on the infamous leader of the wolf clan himself, Kouga. It's like...a beautiful flower fading to wilt, and then a new one growing.

_, as usual, isolated herself from the gang, who were all absorbed in their discussion of their next strategy to get at Naraku after relocating himself again. It was frequent, for _ to not take part in their discussions. Only after she sees something unpleasant with Kouga. A few days later, she would behave normally again, as if the incidents with Kouga never happened. No matter how many times it happens, it always wonders the devil out of Inuyasha.

As _ finally joined the gang around the fire, 'grilling' caught fish by it; she caught interest in the situation. Apparently, Naraku had temporarily settled somewhere in the west. Inuyasha's plan was only to get there as quick as possible, while he intended to leave the moment the sun rises the next day.

"Are you serious?" asked _, blinking in confusion. Inuyasha nodded, looking serious. "And what do you intend to do when we locate Naraku?"  
"On the way, we'll try to think of a way to get past the barrier and get to Naraku and his reincarnations. Or we try and get them to us." Sango explained, looking at Kagome, Shippo and Miroku, who nodded. _ twitched her eyebrow in fascination. These people can be incredibly clever when the situation sometimes calls for it. Not always.  
"I get it now." Said _, looking down as she was handed her done fish by Shippo. Kirara sat by her feet, treating herself on her own pieces of the fish. _ smiled as she reached out to stroke behind Kirara's ear, only dreadfully reminding herself of Kouga and his furry features. She was snapped out of her thoughts when Kirara purred in pleasure, putting another smile onto _ 's face and she begins to dig into her fish.

The next day, everyone got up (more like struggled) to wake up at immediate sunrise. Well, to be clear, Inuyasha was the first one to get up and shoved the rest to their feet. Until Shippo whined about not having any food so early in the morning.

"Shut your trap. We'll find some food on the way." Said Inuyasha bluntly, slipping his arms into the sleeves of his kimono as he began to lead the group while searching for any familiar scent. Shippo wasn't convinced and turned to _ and Kagome as they walked next to each other.

"Kagome, do you have any snacks for me?" asked Shippo shakily. Kagome and _ looked at each other and sighed.  
"I do, but they're not appropriate for having in the morning. Why not just try looking for some safe berries or fruits during the journey?" Kagome smiled, not wanting to hurt the little fox demon. _ just stared at the pair, bewildered at the fact that this short conversation was going in all directions.  
"Can I have a say in this?" _ asked, putting up her hand as the group looked past their shoulders towards her. "Do we even know where we're going?"  
"West, of course." Shippo pointed out.  
"And how would you know if this direction was west?"

...

"_ actually has a point." Said Miroku, causing Inuyasha's ear to twitch. "Do you still have that compass the village head gave you, _?"

_ smiled and took out a Japanese compass from her kimono pocket. It was made of wood and has a wire going past its centre. A village head gave it to her after helping him find his daughter, when the group only went to his village for any sign of Naraku, as they always do.  
She caught Inuyasha trying to snatch the compass but put it higher as the dog demon fell before he could catch it.

"You don't even follow it!" said _, before examining the compass's direction. Although it was over 100 years old, it still worked as good as gold. "West is that way, idiot."

_ pointed towards the right, where there was actually a forest pathway no one realized until now.

"How come we never noticed that?" asked Sango, with the others staring at the pathway as if they just saw a ghost. _ just shrugged and walked down the pathway, leading the gang but with Inuyasha by her side, smelling the ground.  
"Yup, you were definitely right about the direction. I can already smell the miasma." Said Inuyasha, sitting up as he spoke. He stopped when the sound of wind is heard from behind, the volume growing as it approaches. No one looked behind, already knowing who it was, especially _. She knew that sound anywhere.

"Hey, Kagome!"

Kouga.

"And _, too."

"You know, on account, there are seven of us here, and you only greeted two of us." Said _ with profession. Kouga flinched, looking for a reply to her point.

"Smash." Shippo whispered to Kagome who smiled a bit. _ shrugged as she waited for Kouga's reply.

"Shock me; say something intelligent." She added on account of her own social intelligence. Kouga glared at her, but softens quickly.  
"You're intelligent yourself, _-chan." Said Kouga, walking over to _ and put an arm over her smooth shoulders. _ twitched her eye. Was that meant to be a comeback? Or was he just insulting her? Which is which?

_ then sniffed and noticed a familiar scent on Kouga. Like Inuyasha, _ had good smelling sense, but not as good as Inuyasha himself.

"Kouga," _ began. "Have you seen someone today?"

Kouga's face went pale, causing everyone to wonder, mainly Kagome.

"It wasn't my fault that she-wolf got close to me!" the wolf demon argued.

"By she-wolf, do you mean that girl Ayame?" asked Inuyasha.  
"You met her again?" Sango added.

"Kouga! Wait for us!"

The group looked behind them towards the direction where Kouga came from, and saw two figures panting as they approached.

"What took you so long, Ginta, Hakkaku?" Kouga asked cluelessly. Sango and Miroku sweatdropped at his first impression. Could you call that an impression?

Ginta and Hakkaku were too worn up to reply.

"What happened?" Shippo asked, hopping onto _'s shoulder from Kirara's back.  
"We just bumped into each other this morning. She was going on about this crap about mating season and...ugh. And I pushed her away before running away." Kouga explained with slight frustration in his tone.

"You know, Kouga, that's just wrong." Said Kagome, taking a step forward towards him and crossing her arms. "You should be grateful that someone actually loves you. Ayame is crazy about you!"  
"Don't care." Kouga answered, looking away. "Besides, I don't even like her. Someone in this group can satisfy me better than her."

Kagome angrily blushed and looked away, hoping Kouga wasn't referring to her when it was obvious he actually was. _'s heart sank and looked away from Kouga, his arm still draped around her. Inuyasha and Miroku looked at each other, conscious of the situation.

"Are you headed towards Naraku as well?" Miroku asked, changing the subject, for _'s sake. Kouga turned to him and nodded.  
"I just caught the scent, then immediately went this way."  
"Alright then! Can we move on now? We're wasting time here." Inuyasha argued, starting to move, leading the group again. Sango and Shippo sighed.

"Uhm...Sister Kagome, is it alright if we join you?" Ginta asked Kagome, referring to himself, Hakkaku and Kouga. It was more like joining forces. Kagome smiled warmly and nodded, putting soft shades of red on Ginta's cheek.

"I'll see you there!" Kouga called before rushing ahead, a whirlwind carrying him afar.

"That sick bastard!" _ heard Inuyasha growl. "Let's go! I want to catch up by sunset!"

Inuyasha had actually meant what he said. The group was running all the way and finally arrived at a misty clearing, where they met Kouga sniffing the ground. _ could see bumpy rock mountains upon the mist, but something just wasn't right about it. A part of the mountains were completely flat with the exception of a few bumps.

"Sango, does the mist have any effects?" Inuyasha asked, turning towards Sango who was already in her battle attire. "It doesn't smell like it to me."

Sango turned to Kirara who wittily shook her tiny head. Sango passed it to Inuyasha.

"Then I guess it's safe." Inuyasha stated, but before he could take a step, the mist slowly began to fade, slowly revealing something unexpected.

"Funny. No one ever said there was a village here." Said _, furrowing her eyebrows in suspicion. Kagome, Kouga, Ginta, Hakkaku, Shippo and Miroku had the same reaction.

"And look! They have crops too!" Shippo pointed towards a small round of crops close to the village. The village was just as big as Lady Kaede's village. But the thing that questioned the group after Naraku was: where are all the villagers?

There was no human in sight, let alone a demon.

"I was certain Naraku's scent went this way." Said Kouga, clenching a fist. _ could see fury and impatience in his electric blue eyes. _ silently sighed and held a hand to Kouga's free one to calm his down. Surprisingly, Kouga did stop shaking when he felt _'s skin brushing against his. Even the fire in him was defeated by the message he was taking from _ as she held his hand. In his mind, he could hear _'s voice telling him the message of her bold action: '_I will be here for you_'.

Kouga was snapped out of his thoughts when Kagome broke the silence.

"We should investigate the village for any suspicion." Said Kagome, as she began to walk into the village with Shippo. Sango and Miroku looked at each other and went together. Ginta and Hakkaku went together as well, but Inuyasha and _ chose to go alone, same went for Kouga. Although the wolf demon actually felt like going with _ more than Kagome, determined to protect her. _'s skills at throwing knives were enough to defend herself, but Kouga still couldn't overcome the will of protecting her.

Before he could protest, _ was already gone.

Meanwhile, with Kagome and Shippo, they went to one of the huts.

"Anyone home?" Kagome called from outside, but there was no reply. She went past the straw curtains that lead inside, but there was still no one in the small hut. "There's not a single person here."

"There's no one, but why is there a fire on?" Shippo pointed out.

All there is in the hut was a single futon, a wooden carpet in the centre, and a fire on it, cooking some type of miso.

"It looks like someone just been here." The young fox demon added.

Sango and Miroku experienced a similar thing. There was a basket filled with freshly picked crops by the farm, but there was no farmers in the scene. Nor was there any hint of them in the tall crops.

"This is strange." Said Miroku. Kirara sniffed the air, knowing something was coming. Sango looked around, and looked at the ground. She looked behind her, and stared at the track of her's and Miroku's footsteps. There were no other footsteps with it. There hasn't been any rain for the past few days. In fact, the whole ground beyond the village was flat and clear, as if it was newly made.

"This village is like...is hasn't been inhabited since it was found." Said Sango, turning back to Miroku who was deep in thought.

Kouga wasn't taking his time and didn't bother to examine the village. He only ran and searched for any scent. Plain.

But he was also on the lookout for _. That is, if she will appear by chance.

He stopped when he came to the largest hut in the village. Once again, there was no one in present.

"Damn it." Kouga growled, getting annoyed with the absence of people and demons in the village. "Just come out!"

"So you figured it out?" a deep tuned voice said from inside the hut. But that was when Koga noticed a metal seam going through the ground under his feet. It cracked open and the whole village fell into a large pit hole that was under the flat ground and the seam was only an illusion by who knows who.

Everyone managed to get somewhere safe, while Inuyasha found himself outside the clearing of the village. The group gathered at a safe spot, with everyone uninjured.

"So the village really was a trap." Sango said sighing, after struggling to save Miroku and Kouga with Kirara. "Where could Naraku be then?"

"And where is _?"

Everyone gawked at Shippo.

"Where is she!" Inuyasha panicked as he ran over to the large pitch black hole, only to fall to his back as a large unusual creature scooted out from it, blocking the light of the moon for a moment and landing among the group, causing the ground to heavily shake which died away quickly.

"Another one..." Kouga muttered, referring to Naraku's frequent 'reincarnations', as most people would call it. The demon has the appearance of a large six-legged beetle, with green skin and red spots on its back. 'This shouldn't be too hard,' Kouga thought.

As Kouga made an attempt to use Goraishi, the demon squirted out long strands of spider webs from its mouth, stranding Kouga to the ground. Sango tried hitting its shell with her Hiraikotsu, but it didn't actually work.

"It's as hard as stone." She said as she caught her giant boomerang. Inuyasha also failed at the shell with Tessaiga, in spite of its weight being close to the weight of each plate. The strike from his sword only reflected against the shell and gave Inuyasha a cut on his shoulder, which was a bit deep, but safe enough to keep him alive. "But there has to be another way."

The demon turned to Sango, as the demon slayer gladly dodged its second attack of the shiny strands. Kirara saves her and Kagome, but poor Shippo had gotten lost and was trapped in the heavy webs. Kagome felt her shoulder light and panicked as she looked below.

"Shippo!" she called but there was no reply.

"Miroku! Can't you suck this creature into your hole?" Inuyasha shouted across the mess to Miroku who was trying his webs to avoid the webs. Miroku thought about it as he looked at his enclosed hole.

"No! The webs have miasma implanted in them! If you suck in the demon, the webs will be sucked in with him. It's just like the gas!" Kagome warned, only noticing it now. "We need to save Kouga and Shippo before the webs fully trap them or they will be killed!"

"The Spider Head..." Inuyasha thought to himself, replaying the events with the Spider Head in his mind before he met Miroku. "Then this one has to have a weakness."

The safe ones quickly tried to infer the demon's weakness.

Meanwhile, Kouga was trying his hardest to escape the webs that were surrounding him. One by one, the strands join together to form a string harder to break, which was the point to Kouga struggling. As the strands also get closer to him, they were sharp enough to give small cuts and scratches on his skin.

"Damn it!" he cursed to himself, not even being able to use Goraishi or simply his claws themself. He looked above him, where he could still see the hopeless demon through the very little space the webs had left. "Couldn't Naraku give a better challenge?"

Kouga's fury had help him break through the webs, but his chance to get back at the beetle-like creature was pushed away when a shiny item hits its brain, where no shell encased. The webs slowly dies away into thin air, allowing both Kouga and Shippo to regain their breaths and stamina.

"Couldn't Naraku had given us a better challenge?" Kouga had an irk mark as Inuyasha repeated what he had said. Great minds think alike.

The demon itself slowly melts away, instead of turning to dust like the previous demons. As the skin melts, the bones turn to dust, revealing an emotionless _ with a knife in hand. Kouga's heart raced at the sight of her, but his vision then went blurry. Shippo blinked as he woke up from unconsciousness caused by the webs and stared at Kouga before running over to him.

"The Kabutomushi's only weakness is knives. The head may also look like it was hard like its body, which was its clever trick on its enemies." _ explained as she walked over to a helpless Kouga and Shippo.

"How did you find out all that?" Sango questioned, setting foot on the ground with Kagome and Kirara returns to her smaller form. A smile struck _'s face as she shrugged and knelt down by Kouga.

"I believe our first priority is to treat the injuries any of us have. Mainly Kouga." _ looked down at Kouga, who was kneeling on the ground but passed out in a second, with a hint of dismay in her hazel eyes, but also worry and despair in it. Shippo noticed it, and planned to question _ later on.

"Why do you care about him all of a sudden?" Inuyasha asked; his usual attitude returning. _ closed her eyes before opening them again.

"Because...I'm in love with him..." _ said in a tone that was barely a whisper, so no one could hear her, except for Shippo who only heard the word 'love'.

Later that night...

Everyone was already pleacefully sleeping by the fire that _ had just put out. Once again, she isolated herself from them, but not because of Kouga's childish comebacks in the past, but because she wanted her own time to think. Shippo stayed awake to ask her about her feelings towards Kouga. He just had to make it clear. Before the fox demon went off to look for _, he looked back at Kouga who was still unconscious, sleeping in a futon Kagome had with her. Although she doesn't usually use it, she just thought it might come in 'handy'.

When Shippo finally found _ sitting by a rock near a lake that reflected the moon, he approached softly.

"_?"

_ blinked before looked through her shoulder and smiled as she saw Shippo.

"Hey, Shippo. Why are you up this late?"  
"Well, I wanted to ask you something."  
"Yes?"

"Uhm...how do you say it? You're in love with Kouga, aren't you?"

That plain question got _'s tongue. Or was it?

She just sighed and admitted it to Shippo in a soft tone, "Yes."

"But you know, he cares for you too. Sure, he's been close with Kagome since we met each other, but the way he looked at you was...I don't know, stronger. You should confess your feelings to him, _-chan. Love always finds a way."

That got _ deep in thought. She blinked a few times at the saying: '_Love always finds a way' _...

Just as _ was about to reply, she and Shippo heard someone approaching. They both looked behind to see a bandaged Kouga, awaken already.

"Shippo..." he began. "Can you give me and _ some privacy?"

Shippo nodded. Before he left, he nudged _ and nodded at her, reassuringly. _ secretly smiled to herself and Shippo's adorableness.

"Kouga, there's something you should know." Said _ as Kouga sat next to her. "I might as well explain it. Uh...a confession."

_ turned to Kouga and looked at him in the eyes. She opened her eyes but Kouga put a finger to it.

"There's no point in confessing with words."

The next thing they both knew, two cold lips were pressed against each other.


End file.
